


on our backs under the stars (as we sang, as we sing)

by ladypeaceful



Series: tattoo verse [1]
Category: Druck | SKAM (Germany)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Canon Trans Character, First Kiss, First Meetings, Flirting, M/M, also me: takes 3 days to outline and write and proof this thing, and matteo is gay and hopelessly attracted as ALWAYS, david is EXTREMELY hot in this fic you have been warned, drunk jonas is perceptive jonas (and a good fuckin wingman), me: i'm only going to focus on restaurant au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-13 16:55:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20177650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladypeaceful/pseuds/ladypeaceful
Summary: jonas is shitfaced, matteo is very much not shitfaced, and david is a tattoo artist. enjoy!





	on our backs under the stars (as we sang, as we sing)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chlouais](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chlouais/gifts).

> \- the seed for this universe came to me while i was in the shower (and you all know how elusive those shower ideas can be the second you get out) so i immediately had to set aside everything else to outline this while i was in the car for a couple hours on tuesday  
\- this goes out to everyone in the dod who contributed to what i have named the "chaos doc" because writing a fic with a live audience has opened my eyes to what i've been missing all these years of spitting words into a document all by my lonesome. y'all wild as fuck and i love you  
\- special thanks to yon and andy for letting me scream at them about tattoos and my lack of knowledge about them  
\- the title for this fic comes from another night on mars by the maine which i listened to on repeat for a while when writing this + is i think an excellent feel for the matteo/jonas friendship in this fic

“Here’s to the last fuckin’ week of class, boys.”

“Cheers to that.” Abdi raises his glass to Jonas’ before downing it in one go.

“Bro, I know you have me as a guaranteed ride home and everything but,” Matteo flaps his hand in Abdi’s face, “take it easy, shit. I’m not trying to have anyone puke in my car.”

“You’re just protective of that thing because it’s new,” Carlos says.

“Yeah, your point being?” Matteo huffs. He loves his friends, but they’re such a hassle sometimes. Part of the reason he’s been designated driver for the better part of the last two weeks is because the last time it was someone else (Abdi swears it was Carlos, who swears it was supposed to be Jonas) they’d all ended up drunk and stranded at Hans’ place. Matteo had woken up swaddled in a rainbow flag and nearly naked with no memory of how he’d gotten there but it had been a hell of a way to come out to his buddies.

Speaking of.

“Try to get laid tonight, Matteo?” Jonas wiggles his eyebrows. “I see a couple of _ very _cute guys up at the bar.”

“Who said anything about me getting laid,” Matteo grumbles. “Gonna be too busy taking care of you shits to fuck anyone.”

“Aw, don’t be like that.” Carlos leans in to pinch his cheek and Matteo swats him away with a squawk of indignance.

“We just want you to be happy,” Abdi nods. “And well-fucked.”

Matteo is on the verge of saying something to shut them up, like _ I can do that for myself, thanks, _ or _ If you don’t all shut up I’m going to assume you’re volunteering for the job. _ But he bites his tongue and excuses himself to piss, shoving his chair back unceremoniously and stomping off to the bathroom. He splashes cold water on his face and looks in the cracked mirror.

Why is he annoyed?

He shouldn’t be annoyed. His friends have been nothing but accepting and just as (if not more) eager to be his loyal wingmen as when they thought he was straight. Matteo doesn’t know why it rubs him the wrong way that they’re being so chill about him coming out, except maybe just that he hadn’t been able to do it the way he wanted.

He’s not sure how he would have preferred for it to happen, or when or where, but certainly not while hungover and curled up in a painful ball on Hans’ couch with drool streaked across his blotchy face.

Now that he thinks about it, it’s really only just Jonas’ reaction he’s been fixating on during most of his waking moments recently. Jonas, who’d been most readily supportive and somehow knew what to say at every turn, no matter how much Matteo was babbling and backtracking his messy coming out speech.

Matteo had really looked at him for the first time in, what, nearly seven years? And his brain had slammed on the brakes until he’d been able to focus in on the fluttering in his stomach and then he’d thought, _ oh shit. _

It’s been a very confusing and frustrating two weeks since.

He goes back out and watches his best friends get drunk and crack stupid jokes. He smiles and laughs along with them like everything is normal, but on the inside, his thoughts are going in circles, round and round and should he and shouldn’t he, until he’s snapped out of his daze by the very boy he’s preoccupied with, and his completely inane propositions.

“We should do something big to celebrate,” Jonas is saying. “Something _ wild._”

“What, like get tattoos?” Carlos giggles as he says it like a throwaway suggestion but an alarm goes off in Matteo’s mind as he sees Jonas’ eyes widen.

“No, no, no, no.”

“Matteo, _ yes._” Jonas grabs his arm and his hand is so warm that Matteo can’t think of a rebuttal.

“Nah, ‘m with Matteo,” Abdi slurs. “That would be very stupid of us.”

“Yeah, I was joking, dude.” The fact that Carlos is still laughing kind of discounts his rejection of the idea. Matteo knows it’s too late though. When drunk Jonas has latched onto something, there’s no getting him to change his mind.

“This is your fault,” Matteo whines at Carlos.

“Matteo, we _ need _ to get matching tattoos. If they’re,” Jonas lazily flips off Carlos and Abdi, who both return the gesture, “not gonna join in, _ you _at least need to do it with me.”

“Jonas, this is extremely inadvisable. Also, you’re drunk and I’m not. This kind of shit only flies if we’re both fucked up.”

Jonas gives an exaggerated sniffle.

_ “Matteooooo.” _

“Jonas, that’s not going to work on me.”

Jonas pouts.

Matteo looks pointedly away from him.

“Matteo, if you _ love _me, you’ll get a tattoo with me.”

The breath catches in his lungs.

“God, you’re such a fucking _ nuisance.” _

Jonas cheers, and Matteo’s heart soars just a little despite himself.

\--

They walk for several blocks, Jonas leaning heavily on him, before Matteo finally spots a flashing neon pink sign that loudly proclaims TATTOOS against the black of the night.

“Okay, dipshit, here we go.”

Matteo tugs him forward and lets Jonas snake an arm limply around his waist, doing his best to ignore the way the heat spreads outward from the point of contact.

They clumsily make it through the door, Jonas almost tripping over the threshold even though Matteo is supporting most of his body weight.

He’s not looking ahead because he’s looking at Jonas, so he hears The Most Attractive Voice greeting them before he sees its owner, The Most Attractive Boy that he’s ever laid eyes on.

Jonas is hot, without a doubt, but (and Matteo is thankful that telepaths aren’t real, probably) the aura radiating off this guy is pure seduction.

“Hello, how can I help you?”

It’s disarming how the first words out of his mouth are those, not just because they’re in a tattoo parlor in the dead of night, instead of a supermarket in broad daylight, but also because Matteo finds himself checking if his legs are melting into the floor because it sure feels like they are. It doesn’t help that The Most Attractive Boy’s eyes visibly flicker up and down Matteo’s body when he opens his mouth to hopefully say actual words.

“Uh. Uhhh, hi.” He says, stupidly. “Um.”

He’s forgotten all words, it seems. Jonas isn’t helpful, just hangs off Matteo like a sack of flour and giggles softly to himself.

“Tattooooo.”

Okay, Jonas is a little helpful.

“Yes, uh, sorry. We’ve never gotten tattoos before, but um. We’d like to get some. I mean, one. Well, one each.” His language faculties have returned but not in full. He wants to smack himself.

The Most Attractive Boy considers them for a second, then crosses his arms. Matteo takes note of the way his arms flex, muscles on full display thanks to the tank top he’s wearing, and dammit, he’s too gay to be here. Too gay, too hopelessly attracted to have Jonas half comatose and full idiot, in need of babysitting. Matteo was trying to avoid exactly this situation and yet he’s still ended up here.

“I’m afraid I can’t give your friend a tattoo while he’s under the influence.”

Before Matteo can say anything, Jonas pipes up. “Awwwww, why not?”

“It’s against store policy to tattoo customers who can’t give full consent. If you’re not sober, you can’t consent. I’m sorry.”

TMAB, as Matteo has now labeled him, does sound genuinely apologetic, and Matteo wonders how many times he’s had to have this conversation.

“Well, Jonas, looks like this was a bust.” He pats Jonas on the head like a little kid.

“Nooo,” Jonas protests.

TMAB chuckles. Matteo’s gaze is drawn to his gummy smile immediately, cataloguing every line on his face and the way his teeth are uneven, imperfect. Perfect regardless.

“It’s his birthday!” Jonas tries.

“No, it’s not,” Matteo shakes his head.

“Well, then, it’s _ my _birthday.”

“Shut up, you idiot,” he says to Jonas.

To TMAB, he says, “I’m sorry for wasting your time… uh.”

“David,” says David.

“David,” Matteo echoes. “I’ll just take him home now.”

“But _ Matteo._”

To Matteo’s surprise, David doubles over laughing. “Okay, Jesus. I wouldn’t do this if my boss was here, so you’re lucky. But I can make an exception probably just this once.”

Matteo’s eyes widen. “I can’t ask that of you. What if you get in trouble?”

“I won’t.” David winks and Matteo thinks his heart might have stopped completely. “Not if we all agree to keep this our little secret.”

The way his lips curl around the words should be illegal, Matteo thinks helplessly.

“Come with me.” David leads them to his workspace. Matteo sits Jonas down and fiddles around his pockets to extract his wallet and rifle through it for cash.

“Man, I’m broke.” Jonas tries weakly to swipe it back.

“So am I, dumbass. This was your idea so you’re coughing up for your own tattoo at least.” Matteo’s tempted to make him pay for both of them with the money Jonas has gotten from band gigs, but he also knows that’s hard-earned dough that Jonas deserves to keep for himself.

David is shuffling around behind them, setting up and wiping down an array of tools and equipment. Matteo tries not to stare at his hands or think about what they’d feel like, where he’d like to see them on his own body for purposes less innocent than getting a tattoo, at three in the _ fucking _ morning--

He can’t do this. It’s crazy.

“Jonas, this is crazy. I have like, 50 euros on me, if that.”

“Matteo, we’re doing this because,” Jonas puts a hand on Matteo’s face, and he almost squirms away from the touch because _ David is right there, _ but this is also crazy because not _ one _ hour ago he would have been thrilled to have _ Jonas Augustin _ touching his cheek like this, “I love you and this is gonna be symbolic of our bond. You won’t regret it.”

“I won’t regret it if I can’t pay for it,” Matteo snarks.

“Sorry to eavesdrop,” David says softly, and Matteo whips around to look at him. “But I can give you a discount, maybe? Because you guys are cute and I’m not really doing this for the money anyway.”

Jonas beams, never the wiser. But Matteo is skeptical. “What about your boss, though?”

“She won’t find out,” David shrugs. The nonchalance of it makes something hot and needy flare up in Matteo’s stomach.

“I can discount you up to 15 euros each depending on the size of what you get. I’m assuming you won’t want anything too large?” David reaches behind him to pull a neatly bound portfolio off the shelf.

“Oh shit, look at that one.” Jonas taps at an intricately traced dolphin on the second page. “Oooooh.”

“Did you do all of these?” Matteo asks. He’s amazed by the range of choices before him.

David just nods, expression slightly bashful. Jonas audibly reacts to about twelve more designs and Matteo has to thwap him on the head to stop him from asking for a particularly pricey-looking ninetail fox.

Then, Jonas turns another page and his jaw falls. “_Matteo. _ These are the _ ones._”

He has to agree. If they’re going to fall into the cliche of best friends getting matching tattoos, they might as well lean into it and get the little sun and moon that Jonas is gently caressing now, a dopey smile on his face.

“I assume you’re the sun, huh?” Matteo nudges Jonas’ shoulder.

“Yessss,” Jonas drags out the word and then turns to David. “Take my money.”

“Hold on, you ass.” Matteo groans. “Okay, how much would these cost?”

David glances at him for a second, something mischievous and mysterious and _ maddening _ playing around the edge of his mouth.

“I can discount Jonas 15 for his and it’ll come to a total of 45.”

Jonas almost sends his wallet flying with how fast he whips out a 50 euro bill and Matteo has to grab his arm to stop him from hitting David in the face.

“I’m assuming that’s a yes.” David laughs again and the sound is wonderful.

Matteo lets Jonas work out the details of the tattoo himself, taking the opportunity to flip through more of David’s remarkable work. Pages upon pages of animals, flowers, mythical creatures, and font-like script unfold before him, and he feels like he’s seeing something almost sacred.

“How did you decide you were going to do this?” And then, because he’s feeling bold, “Like some of this stuff looks like it belongs in an art museum.”

Matteo could swear he sees David blush, and _ fuck _ that does something to him.

“If you can believe it,” David starts, sounding shy now, “I’m just a graphic design student apprenticing here. Graveyard shift, you know the deal. I’m probably about as broke as you are.”

“And yet you’re doing this… not for the money?” Matteo questions.

David shakes his head. “I just love it.”

It’s a simple response and it speaks volumes about him. Matteo doesn’t think it’s possible for David to keep blowing him away but he’s proving him wrong with every minute he spends in his company.

They chat idly for the next thirty or so minutes that it takes for David to ink the little sun on Jonas’ bicep (“I mean, where _ else _ would I put a tattoo?”) and Matteo learns that David is his age but a year above him and Jonas at the same school.

He learns that David has a cute habit of tilting his head when he’s thinking, and that everything else about David is also cute.

Matteo learns that David laughs easily and openly, and David has to tell him to stop making him laugh or he’ll ruin Jonas’ tattoo.

“Sorry, sorry.” Matteo wipes away a fake tear. “It’s just refreshing to be around someone who isn’t one of the three hundred physics majors I deal with every day. I have to repair our reputation, you know?”

“Excuse you, my reputation is flawless,” Jonas grumbles. “Microbio is the only valid major.”

“Which is why we’re here getting tattoos right now, I’m sure.”

“You’re lucky I can’t move right now,” Jonas raises a threatening hand at Matteo, who effortlessly scoots out of reach, laughing harder than he has in months.

“What is it like in the biology department, then?” David asks. “I assume you’re all perfectly respectable then?”

“Not at all,” Matteo says, tongue between his teeth as he smirks at David. “Far from it.”

“Well,” David murmurs, voice low, nearly a purr. “I like the sound of that.”

Matteo lets the heat that’s been boiling just below the surface wash over him then.

David gives Jonas’ arm one final wipedown and leans back a little to admire his handiwork. “Let me just sanitize that and then I’ll wrap it up for you so it’ll stay clean and moisturized overnight, okay?”

After he deftly sprays down Jonas’ arm with something that stings Matteo’s nose and slathers on a layer of translucent ointment from a big white bottle, David neatly tapes a piece of plastic wrap over the fresh tattoo. Then he bustles around and tidies up his space a little, repeating his routine from earlier of disinfecting the equipment.

“I need to pee,” Jonas says suddenly. "Like, _ really need to pee.” _ He stands up and immediately stumbles, and Matteo catches him, staggering a little under his weight.

“Okay, let’s get you to the bathroom without dying, yeah?”

Jonas smacks his lips. “Mmm. Yeah. Sounds good.”

They stumble their way down the narrow hallway David directs them to and Matteo can’t help but notice the way the smile on David’s face falters a little bit as they round the corner and arrive at the correct door.

“David is nice.” Jonas says unthinkingly.

“Mhm.”

“Very nice.”

“Yes, Jonas.” Matteo rubs his temples. “Hurry up and pee.”

Jonas keeps talking all the way through unzipping his pants and doing his business. “I’m just saying, dude, I’m your best friend.”

“We’ve established that.”

“And as your best friend,” Jonas says matter-of-factly, “I know everything about you.”

“You didn’t know I was gay for seven years.”

Jonas waves a dismissive hand. “Technicalities. I had my suspicions.”

“You--_ what?_” Matteo turns on the faucet and sprays Jonas with water.

“I mean. You always talked about hooking up with girls but I think I saw you make out with maybe three chicks, in seven years.” Jonas shakes the droplets from his hair, grinning at Matteo over his shoulder.

That is a fair point. Matteo can’t argue against the fact that he’s always been bad at the performative aspect of pretending to be straight.

“But then why didn’t you ever say anything, if you suspected this whole time?” He feels a little weird to be talking about this right now, and definitely weirder that they’re alone in a tiny bathroom in a tattoo parlor and also due to the little detail of Jonas’ dick currently being out of his pants. But the past two hours of his life have been such a rollercoaster that Matteo can only imagine it’ll keep getting weirder as the night goes on.

Jonas shrugs, which doesn’t prepare Matteo for how insightful his next words will be. “I just figured that you would probably tell us when you thought the time was right. Didn’t want to push you before you were ready.”

And damn, it’s true that Jonas may be a little thick-skulled from time to time, but at the end of the day, he _ is _ Matteo’s closest friend and confidante for a reason.

“Anyways,” Jonas is saying as he zips up his fly again and Matteo exhales, releasing a tightness in his chest he hadn’t known he was holding. “As your very best friend and bro, I know everything there is to know about you.”

Suddenly Jonas is _ too _ close to him, almost nose to nose, and Matteo is unpleasantly reminded of how much Jonas has had to drink when he gets a whiff of his breath.

“What,” Matteo blinks, “are you--”

And then Jonas _ jabs _ him so hard in the chest he pitches backward a few steps with a yelp of surprise.

“The _ fuck--_”

“You have a crush on David!” Jonas exclaims gleefully. “A big ol’ fat gay crush on _ Daaaviiid._”

Matteo is still reeling, both physically and emotionally, as he tries to gather himself enough to formulate a response that isn’t just noises of confusion and/or indignation.

“Tell me I’m wrong!” Jonas is clearly pleased with himself. Matteo just looks at him, and keeps looking, and finally says, “Fuck. For a second I thought you were gonna--”

“What, make a move on you?” Jonas throws his head back laughing like he’s just said the funniest thing anyone has ever said. “Maybe in another timeline, but not this one, baby.”

Matteo splutters.

“Not to say that I wouldn’t,” Jonas clarifies. Matteo feels like he’s got whiplash. “It’s just that you and David have so much chemistry together, anyone could see it,” Jonas continues calmly, like he hasn’t just shattered Matteo’s entire image of him in twenty words or less. “I can’t come between you and Hot Stuff out there.”

Matteo already isn’t sure he’s ever going to recover from this but then Jonas pulls out his phone. “In _ fact, _ I’ll do you one better.”

“Don’t drunk text anyone,” Matteo pleads.

“Don’t worry,” Jonas says, but Matteo doesn’t trust the smirk on his face as he starts typing rapidly. He hits what Matteo thinks is the send button, and then his own phone buzzes in his pocket.

“Jonas, you _ did not _ text the boys.”

But of course he had. Right there, plain as day, riddled with typos but still plenty readable.

_ hey can soemone come to Genslerstraße 84 to pick me up !! so i cna leave matteo alone with the guy hes gonnaa fuck tonight ;) ;) ;) _

_ “Jonas.” _

“You’re _ welcome._” Jonas is so smug that Matteo is torn between slapping him and hugging him.

He doesn’t end up doing either. Doesn’t say much either, except a softly muttered “Fucking ridiculous,” to himself, because that is what this whole situation is.

They finally leave the bathroom and make it back out to where David is. Matteo’s heart is pounding like he’s just run a hundred meter sprint.

“All good?” David asks, without turning around. “Took you two a while in there.”

Matteo swallows thickly.

“Yeah,” he manages. “We’re fine.”

David runs one last damp rag over the seat Matteo is about to sit in. In any other situation, his thoughts would currently be overrun by the fact that he’s about to get needles stabbed into his skin, while he’s _ sober, _ nonetheless, and he can’t deny that that is still taking up about thirty percent of his mind. But mostly, he’s thinking about how David is about to have his hands on him for half an hour and he has to try to not completely lose his shit.

It must show in his expression, though, because when David does turn to face him, his brows knit together in concern. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah,” Matteo breathes out shakily. Okay, he’s also still a little lightheaded from Jonas apparently reaching his max potential wingman power while drunk off his ass.

David asks, a little curtly, “Need your boyfriend to hold your hand for you?”

Matteo casts his eyes over to where Jonas has wandered a respectable distance away from them, somehow managing not to trip, and is now staring at one of the paintings on the wall, seemingly deep in thought.

And _ then _David’s words click in his brain.

“My _ what _ now?”

If he thought David’s smile was radiant before, it was nothing compared to the one now spreading across his face like the sun coming out after a storm. David points between Matteo and Jonas. “You two aren’t together?”

Matteo just shakes his head numbly, doesn’t trust himself right now. Again, an hour ago he would have been downright ecstatic to think that someone thought he and Jonas were dating.

But an hour ago he hadn’t yet met David.

“Could’ve fooled me.” David tilts his head, smirking at Matteo with an unmistakable glint in his eye.

Matteo knows that look well, from guys who have whispered to him in the shadows of seedy bars, gazes he’s met across cramped rooms when bartenders have slid him a free drink and pointed out “that gentleman over there” when he’s asked who it’s from. It’s usually too much to bear for someone like Matteo, who doesn’t even go to gay bars unless Hans drags him along, but even then he never stays long. He doesn’t like to count on blending into the anonymity of the crowd, is always afraid of being recognized by someone he wouldn’t want knowing about him.

But seeing that same look in David’s eyes now, heavy and full of intent, borderline predatory, only excites Matteo. It’s a new feeling, it knocks the air right out of his lungs with its intensity, and it’s one he hopes to get used to.

“So,” David says.

“So,” Matteo repeats.

“I can give you the same discount that I gave Jonas,” David begins.

“Okay,” Matteo says, not knowing what else to say.

“Or,” David leans in, “for an extra 10 euros off… you could let me take you out sometime.”

Now, _ Matteo _ likes the sound of _ that. _

“You have a deal.” Matteo hopes David can’t see how much he’s trembling right now.

“Excellent,” David grins. Then, he pulls away from Matteo and claps his hands together. “So, darling, I’m assuming you’ll want yours where Jonas got his? Same or opposite arm?”

The next five minutes are the most painful five minutes of Matteo’s life that he can remember ever enduring. He struggles not to wince with every prick of the needles that David wields with great precision.

“Doing okay?” David asks him maybe every thirty seconds, or whenever Matteo sucks air in between his teeth with a particularly loud hiss. Matteo can only ever nod; he doesn’t trust himself to speak when David’s eyes are so focused on him now, dark and even secretive.

His phone buzzes a few times where he’s left it on the little table next to them, and Jonas loudly informs them from near the entrance that Carlos and Abdi have arrived in a taxi. Matteo shoots him a weak smile, tries to put all the gratitude he’s feeling right now into it, and he knows that Jonas understands when he gives Matteo a cheeky salute and a wink.

And then Jonas is gone, and Matteo is alone with David.

The pain starts to subside after those first few minutes and Matteo gradually lets his muscles relax until, finally, he’s able to unclench his teeth and let out an exhale that is more to ground himself than to appease his pain.

“You’re doing very well,” David tells him as he shifts his position a little so that his knee is now pressed lightly against the side of Matteo’s thigh. Matteo tells himself it’s because David’s working on the inner section of the tattoo, but he can’t ignore how close David’s face is to his own as well now. His lashes are very long. Matteo wants to know what they would feel like fluttering against his skin as he licks into David’s mouth with a greed he’s never felt before.

Speaking of David’s mouth, he wants to know if those lips are just as plush as they look. This close up, Matteo can count each of the freckles scattered across the bridge of his nose. He wants to touch them, kiss them, nuzzle his way down to David’s jaw and collarbone and--

“Ah, fuck,” Matteo almost loses his grip on the arm of the chair when an especially sharp shock of pain hits the receptors in his brain like a jolt of electricity.

“Sorry, are you okay?” David hurries to ask, eyes wide. There are droplets of blood forming where the needles had been and David wipes them away as they well up. Little pearls of scarlet, glistening. They’re beautiful, Matteo thinks a little nonsensically, because pain is beautiful. And David is beautiful.

“You’re so close to being done, Matteo. Nearly there.”

Pain is beautiful. Matteo has always thought so, because so much of what he’s found beautiful has also brought him pain.

And David, well. David is the most beautiful person Matteo has ever seen, probably ever will see.

Matteo looks down at the little moon now adorning his bicep, the curve of the crescent smooth and unwavering except for the small detail he’s only just noticed that David’s added. A tiny five-point star, attached to the side like a badge, or maybe a faithful companion.

“I don’t need to pay extra for that, do I?” He jokes, letting one side of his mouth quirk up as he meets David’s eyes.

David is beautiful.

“No, no.” He shakes his head. “That’s just a little something, from me. To thank you for letting me take you out.”

“Hasn’t happened yet,” Matteo quips.

“Think of it as a deposit,” David replies.

It’s quiet for a minute, save for the hum of the air conditioner.

David presses his lips together. “You okay for me to finish this up? It’ll be another minute or two, tops.”

“Yeah.” Matteo bites his lip as David resumes working. “Sorry I’m such a baby. My pain tolerance is kind of shit.”

“Not at all,” David reassures him. “A lot of first-timers don’t realize what they’re getting into and it can be a lot. I had a girl in here once who bit right through her lip and bled everywhere. _ That _ was messy.”

“Yikes,” Matteo says. His own bottom lip is a little raw from him biting on it, but part of that is also the effect had on him by being in such close proximity to David for so long. “What’s the craziest tattoo you’ve ever done?”

“Page 39.” David nods at the portfolio and Matteo flips through it with his free hand while being careful not to jostle his other.

“Oh, shit.” It’s a large one, not quite a full back tattoo but easily taking up a square foot of space. A tapestry that tells a story. A myriad of humans and gods and angels and creatures, brought to life in vivid color against a backdrop of deep purple swirled with soft blues and golds.

“My best friend, Leonie,” David says. “She’s an artist as well. That’s one of her paintings, actually. Ancient Greek stuff, you know. I started that project maybe a few months before I came to work here. Took almost a year for me to replicate her work but it’s probably the best thing I’ve ever done.”

“Fuck.” Matteo feels even more silly now for making a big deal about thirty minutes of pain. He can’t imagine what it would be like to do this over the course of months.

“It’s funny,” David looks up at him, “because it feels like I’ve been doing this for a long time but it’s only been about eighteen months. And I’ll tell you a secret.”

Matteo tenses.

“My boss I mentioned earlier? She’s actually my sister and she’s the one who gave me my first tattoo. I was sixteen.”

There’s something about the way the words catch in David’s throat that tells Matteo this isn’t just any old tattoo either. Matteo gets the feeling that David doesn’t let all of his customers in on this knowledge.

“What is it a tattoo of?” He asks, as gently as possible.

David doesn’t answer right away. Instead, he sets down the tattoo gun and rolls his chair back to look Matteo fully in the face. 

For the first time all night, David looks apprehensive. And when he does speak again, he sounds timid.

“It’s the trans symbol. Page 19.”

Matteo doesn’t want to look away from David when he reaches for the portfolio once more but he has to break eye contact to check the page number.

There are two photos. One is the symbol drawn on a simple sheet of white paper. The other is the actual tattoo itself. He can tell that it’s David’s skin in the photo, though it’s enough of a close-up that he can’t tell where exactly it is on his body. He doesn’t want to ask. He figures he’ll find out in due time.

Matteo runs his fingers over the photo of the tattoo and swears he hears David let out a little gasp. “That’s really lovely.”

“Thank you,” is all David says, but Matteo can hear all the unsaid things that now hang in the air between them. Answers to questions he didn’t know he had, that he’s now glad he knows. They run deeper than the ink now beneath his skin, and more permanent.

“I’ll get you squared away now.” David sounds so soft that Matteo almost reaches for him, he doesn’t know whether he would have grabbed his hand or his face, just needs to maintain physical contact in some way. But David has fully pulled away now to grab the antiseptic and ointment as well as the plastic wrap.

Matteo turns his head away this time so the sanitizing spray doesn’t attack his nose, and holds his breath when David squeezes a good amount of the ointment onto his fingers and massages it over Matteo’s arm.

Cursedly, he thinks he’d rather like to see David rub something else on his body later. He is once again immensely glad that telepaths are most likely not real.

(It does occur to him that if they were, David would almost certainly be one, though.)

“I told Jonas this earlier as well but you’ll need to put on this ointment every day for a couple of weeks to take care of this area. A lot of tattoos end up getting ruined because people don’t keep them clean and healthy after they go home, and there are some _ nasty _ photos of infections you can find on the internet. Like there was this one guy who came in a month after I’d finished his and his _ whole leg _ was swollen, it was disgus--”

“David,” Matteo stops him. “You’re babbling.”

David stills. He looks at Matteo, something unreadable in his eyes. “Sorry. It’s just.” He makes a noise halfway between a sigh and a laugh. “You make me nervous, I guess.”

“_I _ make _ you _ nervous? You’re joking.” Matteo stares. “I’ve been making a fool of myself in front of you all night and _ you’re _ nervous?”

“Hey, didn’t anyone ever tell you that confidence is just a cover for being fucking terrified all the time?” David counters, but he’s laughing.

“How foolish of me then, just openly being terrified all these years.” Matteo shakes with how hard he’s giggling.

“What are _ you _terrified of? You can get anything you want with that face.”

“Could say the fucking same about you, damn.” Matteo isn’t sure if he’s hallucinating right now, but if he is, he doesn’t want the illusion to be shattered just yet.

David shakes his head, but still hits Matteo with that blinding smile as he carefully wraps up his arm and tapes the plastic in place. But this time, he lets his hands linger over Matteo’s skin.

“I do hope you know that I’m not letting you go home tonight.” David says, his eyes dark. The confidence has returned, but now that Matteo knows what softness lies beneath, it’s even more attractive.

“Is that so?” Matteo raises an eyebrow. “And what exactly did you have in mind?”

David laces his fingers through Matteo’s and uses his other hand to cup the back of Matteo’s neck. “I was thinking that maybe you could tell me what you like.”

“Oh,” Matteo gives him a sly grin as he echoes David’s words from earlier, “I like the sound of that.”

They meet in a kiss that makes something in Matteo’s stomach roar like a wild beast, like he’s finally gotten relief from a thirst that has been unquenched for years. David’s skin is fire against his but the heat is too addicting to stay away too long, and they pull away and come back together like the tides that crash onto the shore. Because it shouldn’t make sense, but it also does, that if Matteo is the moon, David is the ocean.

Unlike the moon, however, Matteo only wants to get ever closer to David, his sea of wonder and mystery that he now explores with eager fingertips and kiss-bitten lips.

“Hold on,” David breaks away but keeps Matteo there with strong hands on his shoulders. He’s still sitting in the chair, but now his chest is heaving with the exertion of making out with the hottest person he could ever have the good fortune to make out with.

“Problem?” He asks David.

“Mm, I don’t know if I’d call it a _ problem._” He follows David’s gaze to see that he’s looking at Matteo’s lap.

“Oh.”

“Here,” David suddenly tugs him to his feet and manhandles him into a sitting position on the tattoo table a few feet away. The second Matteo seems stable enough, David goes back in with sloppy, open-mouthed kisses up and down his jaw, licking hot stripes down Matteo’s neck, drawing needy whines from him. David nudges Matteo’s legs apart so he can stand between them and run his hands over Matteo’s thighs, gripping him below the knees to tug him flush against his chest.

Matteo is at once overwhelmed and in desperate need of more, wrapping his arms around David’s shoulders in one moment and sinking his fingers into David’s nest of curls in the next. He pulls him closer and closer until David gets the idea and scoots Matteo back a little on the table before clambering onto his lap.

“Fuuuck.” Matteo lets out a long, low moan when David grinds down hard against him, every nerve ending in his entire body going haywire at once. “You’re so fucking hot.”

“Not too bad yourself,” David replies and Matteo could lose his mind at how gone David sounds. His voice is rough and hoarse, a sharp contrast to how supple his skin is against Matteo’s, how flexibly he bends around Matteo’s form as they twist into each other.

“So, going back to what I like,” Matteo says teasingly.

“Yeah?” David asks, panting a little, hair wild. It makes Matteo feel a little insane that he’s the cause of David looking like such a wreck.

He leans in, like he’s divulging a secret, and whispers in David’s ear, “I do bruise quite easily.”

Instantly that glint is back in David’s eyes and his voice is nearly a growl now. “Well, I think I can use that to my advantage, then.”

David paints his neck blue and purple and red, licking hotly over every bite mark he leaves behind after he quickly figures out he likes the helpless sound that Matteo makes, because David is just _ that good _ with his tongue. He sucks matching bruises on either side of Matteo’s collarbone and, after getting Matteo’s shirt off and flinging it to the ground, follows up with a particularly large one just below his left nipple.

It’s when David looks up at him then, pupils blown and lips swollen, that it’s over for Matteo. He pulls him back up to eye level and wraps his arms around David’s waist.

“I want to see you, if it’s okay.”

David shudders, a full-body tremor at the sound of Matteo’s confession. Wordlessly, he pulls Matteo into a deep, probing kiss, and Matteo gasps at the way David tastes, like desire and surrender and the relentless vigor of the ocean. Like something never before known that only Matteo now has the ability to discover.

“Come home with me,” David says, like he wants to be discovered.

In that moment, as the moon is drawn to the sea, Matteo can do nothing but follow.

_ to be continued _

**Author's Note:**

> \- the continuation for this will be a separate work instead of a second chapter because i would like this to be a standalone and also the second chapter will have a different rating ;)  
\- i would really really like to flesh out this universe the same way i'm currently fleshing out restaurant au but we'll see where things go!! stay tuned  
\- i'm on tumblr @isaksavedeven but i'm not active there presently  
\- please leave comments i reply to all of them because you're all lovely <3


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